Library > Primary Sources
Primary Historical Sources - Where to Find Them
Using HELIN | Print Resources | Online Resources | American History | Wheaton Archives & Special Collections
Primary sources are critical to historical research. To find primary sources on a topic in which you are interested, familiarity with the dates, events, people, places, and organizations involved, and the names of such things as laws, court cases, treaties, if applicable, of the period are essential. A look at some of the general reference tools or an introductory secondary source or two will help frame your topic, provide basic background, introduce the contemporary language needed to use period indexes, and begin to identify what primary sources might be available.
USING HELIN
Search HELIN for the name of the event and the Library of Congress subject heading for the historical period involved, i.e. United States History - Civil War, 1861-1865. To find the appropriate subject heading:- Try typing in subjects in HELIN and browse through your results.
- Find an item in HELIN by keyword, including a secondary source, and follow the subject headings attached to it.
| United States History - Civil War, 1861-1865 | - Correspondence |
| - Pamphlets | |
| - Personal Narratives | |
| - Sources |
Search as "Author" the names of prominent people involved in the event - they may have written memoirs, autobiographies, etc. If you are researching the American Revolution, for example, the Library has writings by Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, and from the "other" side, Thomas Gage and Thomas Hutchinson, to name a few.
Note references to primary sources used in the footnotes or text of secondary sources. As you read about the U.S. Civil Rights movement in the 1950's, you will see references to the Supreme Court's Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka decision. At the end of World War I you will find references to the Treaty of Versailles. Look for the text of these documents online or as publications cataloged in HELIN
As you further define your topic, it will be easier to determine what names and headings to search. If you do not find them in HELIN, try using the WorldCat from the drop-down menu on the Library's home page to see what other libraries may have. Books published before 1900 will probably not be available on Interlibrary Loan, but you may find some reprints or more current materials that are. Be aware that some of these titles may be in microform - microfilm or microfiche - as are some of the Wallace Library's materials. You will become familiar with our Microform Room on the Periodicals Level.
PRINT RESOURCES
Documents of American History. ed. by Henry Steele Commager and Milton Cantor. Englewood Cliffs, NJ : Prentice Hall, 1988.
Ref E173 .D59 1988
An example of a collection of major printed documents, this one in the Reference Room. For specific eras or events there may be similar collections in the stacks.
Indexes to Contemporary Coverage of the Time - Newspapers and Periodicals
These are indexes to commentary written at the time of events. They are available on the Reference Indexes shelves, the short shelves in the center of the Reference Room. Indexing styles vary and can be confusing; do not hesitate to ask a Reference Librarian for assistance in using these materials. Some are also available online for the most recent years. Once you find an appropriate article reference, check JournalFinder for our holdings of that journal. You can request photocopies through Interlibrary Loan if the Wallace Library does not own it.
Poole's Index to Periodical Literature
Indexes 19th Century periodicals.
Public Affairs Information Service Bulletin - PAIS
(Online since 1974 but paper indexes go back to 1928.)
"Public affairs" includes economic, political, international affairs and social conditions. Lists periodical articles, books, pamphlets, and government documents.
Readers Guide to Periodical Literature
(Paper index goes back to 1890. 1984 to date is on line.)
General interest magazines for popular media coverage.
Readers Guide Supplement (1907-1919)
International Index (1920-1965)
Social Sciences and Humanities Index (1965-1974)
Name changes of essentially the same index to more scholarly periodicals in the social sciences and humanities. All are shelved under the title Social Sciences and Humanities Index.
Times of London
Wallace Library has the newspaper on microfilm back to 1788 with paper indexes in the Reference Room. Look for the paper indexes shelved together under the title Times Index although there are variations of title through the years.
Secondary Source Journal Indexes
Scholarly articles may also contain some text of relevant documents on your topic. Check America: History and Life or Historical Abstracts from the Library's Electronic Resources Page for articles on the topic. The Library receives more and more journals in electronic format through such services as Project Muse or JStor, so you may find the materials online.
ONLINE RESOURCES
World History
Here are some online collections of documents from world history. Note that you can search in Google and possibly find a particular major document. Browsing through online collections of resources will provide a perspective on what is available about a general era such as the French Revolution, and may alert you to specific sources
Avalon Project - http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/avalon.htm
(Or just look up Avalon Project in HELIN)
Britannia - http://www.britannia.com/history
(Writings and some documents in British history.)
Famous Trials - http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/ftrials.htm
Modern History Source Book - http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbookfull.html
New York Times Online goes back to 1851
Wall Street Journal Online goes back to 1889.
Washington Post goes back to 1877.
All three of these newspapers are available online from the A to Z list. You can find contemporary coverage such as the Washington Post article about the Watergate break-in the day after the event, texts of speeches, and editorials.
AMERICAN HISTORY
American Memories - http://memory.loc.gov
(From the Library of Congress, this has lots of images as well as text.)
Founders Constitution - http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/
Sources for the political ideas that were used in the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Wallace Library also owns this in book form in the Reference Room.
Making of America - http://www.hti.umich.edu/m/moagrp/
(19th Century America)
Nineteenth Century Documents Project - http://alpha.furman.edu/~benson/docs/
Presidential Papers
Search ELIZA under the President's name as Author and Subject. We have many of their papers in printed form in the stacks. Recent presidential papers are on-line. The easiest way to find the on-line versions is to search in Google for the President's name. You may also find a link to his Presidential Library. Note that specific writings and speeches may be found in the Modern History Source Book or American Memories.
Legal cases
Go to Nexis/Lexis from the Library's Electronic Resources Page.
For the fullest coverage of U.S. Supreme Court opinions, search ELIZA under United States Supreme Court as author. Some opinions are represented in the Famous Trials above.
Congressional Record is the contemporary name for the official records of the proceedings of Congress. The Library has access to these from the Continental Congress as the American Revolution began all through American history to today. They are available in different formats - on-line, microfilm, paper - for various years, and the title has also changed through the years. Search HELIN under the following titles for format and access. You will find that the type of records and the detail has varied through the years. When using the paper indexes you will need to search the index for each relevant year.
- Journals of the Continental Congress (1774-1789)
- Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States (1789-1824)
- Register of Debates in Congress (1824-1837)
- Congressional Globe (1833-1873)
- Congressional Record (1873-date)
Treaties
"Google" these by name, look through some of the other sources above, or locate the following book in the Reference Room:
Treaties and Other International Agreements of the United States of America, 1776-1949. Compiled under the direction of Charles I. Bevans. Washington, Dept. of State; U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1968-76.
Ref JX236 1968 .A5
WHEATON ARCHIVES & SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
In addition to materials specifically about Wheaton, you will find books, objects, and archival and manuscript collections relevant to the history of women; higher education; family, child-rearing, work, and gender issues; material culture; and contemporary sources from the 17th century to the present.
The College Archives contains the records of administrative and student, faculty and alumnae/i activities of Wheaton Female Seminary and Wheaton College dating from 1834 to the present. Manuscript Collections include diaries, correspondence, and other materials created by individuals from the 18th Century through the present. Neither the archival nor the manuscript collections are currently searchable in HELIN. The Wallace Library has nine special book collections, seven of which are housed in the Gebbie Archives & Special Collections. Many, but not all, of the books may be found in HELIN; all call numbers for books in Special Collections will be preceded by the heading "Sp Coll" followed by the name of the collection and call number (if applicable).
It is important to confer with the Archivist regarding your topic, so that you may have access to all relevant materials.
Ref. Dept. 1/22/07 tjs
This page is maintained by Library. Last updated on 1/22/07.
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